


cold hands

by earlhollister



Category: Fantastic Four (2015)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, HAPPY 2016 EVERYONE, Holding Hands, Illustrated, Kissing, M/M, alcohol mention, i'm two weeks late but better late than never i guess?, lots of fluff..., yea there are a few pictures so if it screws up the formatting i am really sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 03:18:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5727709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlhollister/pseuds/earlhollister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>shoving snow down someone's shirt has never been gayer</p>
            </blockquote>





	cold hands

New Year’s Eve brought an unexpected bout of early snowfall to New York. The streets outside of Baxter were blanketed under a snowy eiderdown and the surrounding greenery was rimed with frost. A hush had fallen over the snow-laden city – as if to hold its breath in anticipation of the New Year. However, the peace and quiet was short-lived. 

Ben and Reed emerged from the Baxter institute and stumbled out into the snow. They clung to one another, with Reed practically draped over his shorter companion. Their legs almost entangled more than once as they began a messy and unsynchronised walk down the path. 

“Dude, I think I’m wasted,” Reed announced, a smile plastered on his face. “Am I wasted yet?”

Ben snorted and continued to support his friend down the street. “Reed, you had, like… two things of vodka and lemonade. You’re fine.” To prove his point, he untangled his body from the awkward, half-embrace and allowed his friend to stagger on without the added support. “See, you can practically walk on your own." 

Reed stood upright, indignant but still unable to stop grinning. “Hey, it was some strong shit.”

“It was mostly lemonade. I watched you pour it.” Ben slowed to a halt. “Hey, are you… sure you’re OK with leaving the party early?”

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I thought you were having fun.”

“Not really. It was a little too chaotic for me.”

“I didn’t know you Baxter nerds could party so hard.” 

Reed barked a laugh in response. “I guess anyone can party given the right amount of alcohol.” He shuddered. “And I think _some_ people had a little too much.”

“Dude, your dorm room is gonna be trashed by tomorrow.”

“Ugh, I _know_.” He dragged a hand down his face dramatically. His annoyance dissolved quickly as his demeanour shifted. “Hey, thanks for driving me home, though. I appreciate it.”

Ben gave him an affectionate thump on the shoulder. “Don’t mention it, buddy.”

For the next few minutes, they wordlessly picked their way through the lamp-lit streets. After the disaster that was Baxter’s New Year’s Eve party, it was a welcome change of atmosphere. However, it wasn’t long before Reed's voice cut through the silence.

“Please tell me you didn’t park too far from here.”

“Couple of streets down. Why?”

“I’m _freezing_ to death here,” Reed complained through chattering teeth. 

Ben watched as his breath condensed in mid-air and curled upwards in a tendril of silvery vapour. It _was_ cold. Ridiculously so. 

Reed rubbed his hands together vigorously. “Oh God. I can’t feel my fingers.”

“Well, you _did_ leave your gloves behind.”

“I… may have misjudged the outside temperature.” 

“You’re hopeless,” Ben sighed and held out his hands. “Come here.”

Reed obliged and wrapped his numb fingers around the gloved hands. Using his thumbs, Ben rubbed gentle circles into the back of his hands.

“Better?” he asked, slowly massaging warmth back into Reed’s hands.

“Mm. But you know what would be better, though?” Reed leaned in closer, a sly, lopsided grin on his face.

Ben swallowed. “What?”

Without warning, a pair of hands snuck their way under his shirt and curled around his waist. _Cold_. Holy shit, it was _cold_. 

“Fuck! Holy fuck, that’s cold!” Ben immediately started to flail, almost hitting Reed in the nose. He struggled to dislodge his icy hands from under his shirt, grasping at his forearms. 

“Get outta there!” he demanded through a stream of giggles.

“Ben, listen – friends don’t let friends freeze to death.” Reed could barely get the words out between trying to wrestle with his friend. “C’mon, share your body heat with m-”  
Ben slammed into him, easily toppling all 6-feet worth of awkward, spaghetti-limbed lankiness. While he lay, dazed, Ben scooped up a fistful of snow.

“That’s it. You’re gonna get it.”

Reed held his hands up in protest, already laughing nervously and trying to worm his way backwards. “Oh, my God, Ben – don’t do this.”

“Too late.” 

“But I’m your friend,” Reed insisted. “You wouldn’t do this to your friend, right?”

“Only friends who stick their cold hands down my shirt.” With that, Ben tipped the snow down the front of Reed’s shirt.

Needless to say, he shrieked loud enough to wake all of Manhattan.

He sat up, shaking chunks of snow from out of his shirt. “Christ on a cracker, that was _fucking_ cold.”

Ben lost his nerve completely. He doubled over, clutching at his sides. Reed was beside himself with a feigned annoyance. He readjusted his glasses, which sat, askew, atop his tousled head of hair. “What? _What_?”

“Did you – did you even _hear_ yourself? You screamed. So fucking loud. Holy shit.”

“Oh, you think that’s funny, huh?” 

Before Ben could react, he was being wrestled to the ground. There was a brief struggle, but eventually, by some miracle, Reed had had him pinned underneath him.  
He started gathering snow in the palm of his hand. “We’ll see who’s laughing after –”

Fortunately, Reed was interrupted by the distant _crack_ and _pop_ of fireworks. 

“It’s midnight already?” he let the snow fall between his fingers as he turned his focus to the sky; searching.

Ben took advantage of this temporary distraction. Reaching upwards, he grabbed Reed by his lapels and yanked him into an impromptu New Year’s kiss. He pressed his lips against Reed’s – hard. Reed stiffened against the sudden contact, shocked. It took him a second before he completely melted into the kiss and pushed back shyly. 

When Ben’s adrenaline kick suddenly fizzled out, the realisation hit him harder than a sledgehammer – he was kissing his best friend. He was kissing best friend _and_ liking it more than he should. With a soft smack, the two of them broke apart. They looked at each other, silent, as if to gauge the other’s reaction.

“Uh… Happy New Year?” Ben said at last, quirking his lips in a nervous almost-smile. Reed didn’t say anything, nor did he return the smile. Instead, he rubbed his nose with a thumb and looked away. All traces of the tipsy giddiness from before was drained from his face and replaced with a stony, sobered-up mask. 

This launched Ben into a panic. He began to string together a half-formed and muddled apology. “Reed – I – shit, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to – I thought – fuck – I’m sorry.”

“No," came Reed's reply. "No – it’s OK. Um. Can we do that again, please?”  
Ben paused for a moment, easing himself up onto his elbows and trying to digest what he’d heard. All the while Reed watched him, doe-eyed and beseeching. 

In the distance, the last firework extinguished with a crackle. The world went quiet. 

“You're... not mad?”

Reed shook his head. “Just kiss me again.”

So, Ben rose to meet him again; more eagerly than before. In his excitement, he leaned forward too fast, almost headbutting Reed in the process.

“Wait.” Reed placed a hand on his chest, halting Ben's sudden surge of elation momentarily. “OK, uh, when I say I want to do it again, I mean – I want to kiss you, but not just for some New Year’s Eve tradition.”

“What?”

“Shit, sorry. I’m awful with words, but what I’m saying is – I want to kiss you but not just tonight. I want to kiss you other times, I just - I want to kiss you a lot, Ben.”

“Are you...asking me out?”

“Yes. I think that's how it works, yes."

Reed looked down, flustered and at a complete loss. Ben couldn't help but find it endearing.

So much so that he can’t resist pulling him in again, slower and more controlled this time. Cupping his cheek delicately, he eased into the kiss. Their lips gently grazed at first, then slid together seamlessly. There’s a kind of energy – an electricity - behind the kiss. Neither of them could put a name to the feeling it gave them. It was something like happiness. But different. Warmer.

When they finally pull away, neither of them could stop smiling.

"So."

"So."

"We're a thing now."

"We are."

“I’ve, uh, wanted to do that for a while,” Reed admitted.

As if it were as instinctive as breathing, Ben reached out and took his hand. “Me too.” 

“You know what else I’ve wanted to do?”

“What?”

Ben had to admit, he did not anticipate Reed slapping a handful of snow in his face.

“You – you _fucker_!” he sputtered. “That was dirty! We were having a moment!” 

Despite the numbing cold that nipped at his cheeks and lips, he was still grinning like a love-struck fool. He lunged forward and tackled Reed into the snow. 

They struggled playfully, rolling across the ground in an attempt to overpower the other. There was a brief back and forth battle of trying to stuff snow down each other’s jackets, but the endeavour was abandoned as they fell apart and collapsed into adrenaline-induced hysterics. Eventually, their laughs petered off into soft wheezing and they lay on their backs, like a pair of snow angels, on the sidewalk.

Ben was the first to fully recover and get to his feet. “Come on, let’s get you back home.”  
He reached down and helped his _boyfriend_ up. Boyfriend. Now that was going to take some getting used to.

"You know," Ben mused, "if you didn't leave the party, you could be kissing someone else."

"Then thank God I left, because I kinda like the way things turned out tonight."

"Even the bit where I put snow down your shirt?"

"That was _cruel_ ," he said with a pout. "Dick."

"Hey, I'll make it up to you." He pondered for a moment. "How about I treat you on our first actual date?"

"Well, there's actually one thing you can do for me right now..." Reed extended a hand with a look of feigned innocence. “My hands are still a little cold.”

“Again?" Something clicked into place in Ben's head. "Hold on, is this your way of getting me to hold your hand?” 

Reed adjusted his glasses sheepishly. 

“You don’t need an excuse to hold my hand, you know,” Ben said, taking his hand and lacing their fingers together. “You can take it whenever. I’m yours.”

"I know. I'm yours, too." Reed squeezed his hand in return and beamed - big and genuine.

"But, y'know, you're also a really convenient source of heat." Mischief crept across face. "Hey, my lips are cold, too. Maybe you could warm them up again?"

Rolling his eyes, Ben grabbed a fistful of Reed's shirt with his free hand and pulled him down so their noses were touching. 

"You know you don't need an excuse for this either." 


End file.
